Aiming high

Whether it houses art, natural history or some other specialty, one museum is pretty much the same as the next.

Right?

Wrong, said Steve Temple, director of the Gadsden Museum.

"The image we've got to fight is that a museum is a big box with stuff hanging on the wall," he said.

Temple and his band of volunteers are working hard to change both the impression and the reality of the "big box."

A partnership being developed with Jacksonville State University through its Distance Education Program is the first step along that path.

"A year ago, I went to the mayor, who enjoys thinking outside the box, and pitched the idea of distance education because of the shortfall in education funding statewide," Temple said. "The mayor said he had taught Spanish classes to Gaston and Hokes Bluff students at their schools, was familiar with the technology and knew it would work."

Temple said he believes a "divine order" is at work.

"We were just completing the (museum) when JSU president Bill Meehan spoke to the Rotary Club," Temple said. "He aimed me to Frank King at JSU in the technology department. ...

"They've got the pipeline and need the content; we've got the content and need the pipeline. It's a marriage made in heaven."

Temple did doctoral work in curriculum design and teaching effectiveness, and he is finding that training coming in handy.

"Our step now is to talk to school boards and teachers and find out what they need and when they need it," he said. "Also, we'll be offering training on how to use technology."

When he first thought about pursuing distance education, Temple wanted to start in Etowah County, get the "bugs" out of the process and then go statewide. A partnership with JSU allows the university and the Gadsden Museum to go statewide immediately.

Both organizations will benefit, as will schools that have had to cut back on programs because of funding shortfalls. And the benefits to children are almost incalculable.

The results should be easy to assess, Temple said.

"Our mission statement is `To inform, to educate, to inspire,'" he said. "The way I've always taught is that inspiring makes educating easier. When children are educated, they are often self-informing.

"Our test for the success of this is if kids are banging on the doors after school and on Saturdays to get in and participate."

While education is a key and integral part of the museum's mission, it still is a museum. But Temple wants the public to know the museum is a changing, evolving entity.

"We are continuing some of our long-standing show, such as `Diversity,' which celebrates the many heritages in the community," he said. "It's one of our continuing show.

"But we're also building in surprise shows and new shows. This fall will be the first of our `Art of ...' shows. In the coming years, we'll be looking at the art of such things as food, jewelry, guns and automobiles.

"One of the shows will `Art of the Fake and the Fraud.' We will have a workshop as part of the exhibit where people can build their own Egyptian wall fragment."

There will be one "Art of ..." show annually, he said.

The museum is soon to have its third gallery ready for changing exhibits, and many of the surprise shows will take place in one of them.

Another thing patrons can watch evolve in the museum is a timeline of Gadsden from prehistory through modern times.

Right now, the timeline includes nine aerials of Gadsden from 1960. They once hung in the foyers of different floors of city hall, and this is the first time they all have been displayed together.

This exhibit is called "Time & Place." It was created by local historian and collector John McFarland, and it includes items from his personal collections as well as a portion of the vast array of items from the museum's permanent collection.

A fraction of the permanent collection is on view at any given time, Temple said.

The next expansion planned is to access a courtyard on the opposite side of the building from the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts.

"The Master Gardeners have taken on the courtyard as a project," he said. "The idea is to create a sculpture garden that is a tribute to Noccalula Falls."

A future feature of the museum will be a memorial to its founder, Annie Fowler.

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